Chilaca Pork Stew

I fell in love with chilaca chiles the moment I learned about them, which, I am not ashamed to say, is fairly recently.

Chilaca chiles are long, slender, medium-hot chiles from Mexico. Think poblanos, only stretched out and a bit spicier. Pronounced chee-LAH-kah, they are popular in Michoacan, which is where many of the Mexican immigrants here in the Sacramento area came from.

As a side note, Maricel notes that there is an amazing woman in Indiana who raises maybe 1000 kinds of chiles and sells seedlings. She’s known as the Chile Woman, and I highly recommend here. Tell her I sent you…

Then, one day, in a local Mexican market, I saw the prettiest chilacas, some a full foot long. I had to buy them. See the serrano in the corner? Yeah, that’s how big these chiles are.

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

I sliced some crosswise for a sort of Mexican stir fry, and they were kinda cool: inky forest green on the outside, light green on the inside. I then made a green salsa with some that were just cut up. It was, well, just OK.

Where chilaca chiles really shine is as rajas, which means strips in Spanish. Most of you who know what rajas are know them as a poblano thing, and that they are. But chilacas are better. They shred nicer, and in longer strips.

I blister all my chiles directly on my gas burners, which is a far superior way to do this than using the broiler, which will overcook any chile, but especially a thin-walled chilaca. You could blister them directly over a hot wood fire, too, which would be even better.

How did I use my chilaca rajas? In this wonderful, comforting Mexican stew I found in another of Kennedy’s books, her My Mexico. It is a fascinating technique, basically a reverse seared stew: You simmer the pork first, remove some broth, let the pot simmer dry until the pork’s fat renders, then fry the tender pork chunks in its own fat.

A quick, tomato-based sauce coats the pork, the chilaca rajas go in, and you’re ready to rock. This can be eaten as a stew, over rice, or in tacos or a burrito.

You’ll find chilacas in the produce section of Mexican markets. You can also find them dried, where they are an entirely different thing: chile pasilla. If you want to grow some, The Chile Woman has seedlings, or you will find them as pasilla chiles in most catalogs, after what a chilaca becomes once it’s ripe.

Chilaca Pork Stew

Obviously I use chilaca chiles here, but don't get hung up on it. You can use the easier-to-find poblanos instead, which are in most supermarkets. Everything else is easy to find.

Prep Time45mins

Cook Time1hr30mins

Total Time2hrs15mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 6people

Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

6 to 9 chilaca or Anaheim chiles, or 4 to 6 poblanos

2poundspork shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks

6 to 8 clovesgarlic, peeled and crushed

2 to 4avocado leaves, or bay leaves

Salt

1poundplum tomatoes

3 to 6large tomatillos, husks removed

3 to 5 serrano chiles, stems removed

Black pepper to taste

Instructions

Roast the chilacas or other chiles as directed here. Remove the stems and seeds and tear into long strips, You can cut the trips shorter if you want. Set aside.

Set the pork in a Dutch oven or other large pot and cover with water. Add the crushed garlic and avocado or bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste. Simmer for a good 30 minutes, partially covered.

Add the tomatoes, tomatillos and serranos to the pot, whole. Let them cook in there for 10 minutes. Fish them out, along with some of the crushed garlic cloves, and puree them in a blender with some of the broth. Set aside.

Let the pork continue to simmer until it is mostly tender. For wild pigs this could be an hour. Store-bought will be about another 20 minutes or so. Let the broth cook down while this is happening, but don't let it dry out just yet. Once the pork is tender, ladle out most of the broth and use for something else. It's tasty.

Allow the pot to cook dry. There should be a few tablespoons of fat rendered off the pork, if not, add some (or oil). Let the now-tender pork fry in its own fat. The debris that came off the pork while simmering will brown. Pick out the bay leaves and discard.

When the pork is nicely browned, add the chilaca chiles and the sauce in the blender. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, let this all simmer for 10 minutes and serve.

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Comments

We made this tonight with the last of my wild boar meat from Texas. While different from the normal Mexican recipes it’s very good with a rich flavor built by the layering of each ingredient. I used poblano and serrano chiles but cut the number and rinsed in cold water after roasting them to cut the heat for my son after reading some of the comments about the heat. This is a very forgiving dish as the amount of time that was taken cooking on a couple steps was more than called for because… 2 year old assistant cook. Very good and will make again. Of note we used the excess liquid to make a very flavorful rice to serve the stew over.

I was pretty blown away with this dish. I don’t have a ton of experience with chiles and was a hair worried about following every step to the letter, but through the process I realized it’s actually pretty forgiving. I subbed in poblanos to great result – it’s incredible how much flavor develops with a relatively short (and simple) ingredients list. It does take some time, but it’s well worth it! I’m really looking forward to using the leftovers over fried eggs, with some fresh corn tortillas, over cheese & bean enchiladas – the list goes on. It’s a great recipe, and a good introduction to using chiles. Definitely getting put on my normal rotation!

Hank, I was about to send you a question about using avocado leaves when I noted this recipe. Thanks. We have 2 large trees, a Fuerte and a Mexicola Grande. Very different taste. Mexican avocado leaves have a taste tending toward anise. The Fuerte is a Mexican – Guatemalan hybrid and does not. Can’t grow Hass variety due to cold so can not comment.

Since you love fishing, have you tried steaming any fish wrapped in avocado leaves?

I gave this delicious recipe four stars only because of the time needed to prepare this if using wild boar, otherwise it is delicious. I live in a smallish town and was unable to find the chilaca chilies, but I did use Anaheim and the serrano chilis. I thought this dish pretty daggone spicy. I used 8 Anaheim chilis and 5 serrano. I blistered the Anaheim chilis on a grill (used the hot coals to make elote corn). I served the stew with rice – and I used the extra broth to make the rice. I admit I used the left over cheese mixture from the elote corn to cool the spiciness of the stew. In a pinch, and I know Hank probably won’t agree with me, I think you could successfully use a jar of salsa verde and a good quality Italian tomato sauce as a substitute for the tomatillos and the roma tomatoes. The stew has a good earthiness to it, and would be a great meal for a family or a small gathering of friends/family. It presents well.